Robot Wars Wiki talk:Badges
I would like to discuss the possibility of phasing out badges. The original purpose of them was to get people to write summaries from scratch, and now that we no longer need that, it seems unnecessary to use them as incentives. I'm gonna be blunt here, I have turned a blind to a lot of instances where I feel like undeserved badges were awarded, and I'm starting to feel like the badges are turning into an entitlement instead of a reward. And I don't mean to sound self-aggrandizing but the badges that I earned were from turning sentences into essays, and I never once bothered an admin, or even gave a toss, if I didn't get a badge I felt I deserved. The rewards for article expansion should be intrinsic; a user's primary motivation should be the betterment of the pages, not a tiny trinket to throw onto the pile. I want everyone to know that I appreciate all the fantastic contributions, but if I'm being real, everyone who's done badge worthy work has plenty of badges already. The badges are an outdated vestige of a different time, everyone is free to keep what they'e earned, but it's simply not possible to keep consistent with the originally intended guidelines thanks to the progress we've made. And the fact that we've progressed to the point that I can confidently say that we no longer need the badge system, is something we should be really proud of. Anyways, that's where I stand. Anybody care to weigh in? RA2; aka Resetti's Replicas. (My Talk) 09:13, December 22, 2011 (UTC) :I'm going to lean towards agree on this one, but I am intending to hold a general meeting at some point during the new Year, regarding how to move the wiki forward, and I would encourage policy discussions there. Matt(Talk) 09:43, December 22, 2011 (UTC) ::I personally have no problem with the badge system as it currently is, but I certainly understand what you are saying and I wouldn't object to the badges being phased out, if that's what other people think would be best. Christophee (talk) 01:00, December 23, 2011 (UTC) ::I agree with RA2, the wiki has come so far in the past couple of years, that most of the major work has been done and it is unclear what can still be done that is badge worthy. ManUCrazy (talk) 02:54, December 23, 2011 (UTC) Excellent. Can I take this to mean we have a consensus? RA2; aka Resetti's Replicas. (My Talk) 04:50, December 23, 2011 (UTC) :I think Matt wanted to discuss it in the general meeting, but if all the active administrators have agreed here, then I think that should enough to count as a consensus. Christophee (talk) 16:41, December 23, 2011 (UTC) ::I certainly cannot argue with anything said here, I may introduce it as a topic in the meeting anyway, but nothing more than a formality. Matt(Talk) 17:40, December 23, 2011 (UTC) Ok. Is there a way to archive this page to indicate that badges are no longer being given out? RA2; aka Resetti's Replicas. (My Talk) 16:10, December 24, 2011 (UTC) :I might be able to cobble something together, just give me time to muck around with things that I shouldn't muck around with :P--'' STORM II '' 17:08, December 24, 2011 (UTC) ::Sorry to undo your edit, but that wasn't quite what I was looking for. What I wanted as some official marker on the main page indicating that the badge policy has been terminated. Still, feel free to cobble. RA2; aka Resetti's Replicas. (My Talk) 17:21, December 24, 2011 (UTC) :::The main page of the wiki? Can you sort it out, otherwise I'll end up blowing it up.--'' STORM II '' 17:48, December 24, 2011 (UTC) ::::Do you want a marker on the main page or on this policy page? I wish the current skin still used the old sitenotice feature. Maybe there is an equivalent that I haven't come across yet. Christophee (talk) 18:51, December 24, 2011 (UTC) :::::Christophee, MediaWiki:Community-corner is for this skin, but it only displays on the wiki activity page. Since most anons read the articles, making the odd contribution then you can delete TG's message about Steve's death and write your own message, as IP's aren't eligible for badges. The default option for the first thing you see on wiki as a registered user is Wiki Activity, but you can disable it. If you don't appreciate that, try Monobook, with the Site notice, but you will have to add a bit to the URL if you want to chat.--'' STORM II '' 19:42, December 24, 2011 (UTC) I menat "Main" as in this policy page, I see someone's put up the notice there, so thanks to whomever it was. RA2; aka Resetti's Replicas. (My Talk) 20:04, December 24, 2011 (UTC) :Christophee did that, in his typical soft, gentle expression :D.--'' STORM II '' 20:09, December 24, 2011 (UTC) If you want a notice, why not an "old or redundant policy" template? Matt(Talk) 21:11, December 24, 2011 (UTC) :I'll play around with my non-existent wiki markup skills and actually create something useful. To emphasise the "old" I could put a real old robot from the first wars in it.--'' STORM II '' 21:18, December 24, 2011 (UTC) ::Notice created here.--'' STORM II '' 21:56, December 24, 2011 (UTC) :::Very good work, Storm2. Thanks very much for that. Christophee (talk) 23:43, December 25, 2011 (UTC) ::::Thanks Christophee! Bearing in mind that wiki markup is all Greek to me, especially after you invent a Christmas "Bermuda triangle" pinball with skittles, marbles, house robots and random stuff that Shunt likes axing. Not forgetting competitors and a "triangle". Anyway, thanks for the compliment!--'' STORM II '' 00:22, December 26, 2011 (UTC)